Man in brutal 1974 slaying denied parole again

Wednesday

Mar 20, 2013 at 5:00 PMMar 20, 2013 at 5:13 PM

By Scott J. Croteau TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

A city man serving a life sentence for the brutal slaying of a 28-year-old woman in her Worcester home back in 1974 has been denied parole again, according to a decision released by the state Parole Board recently.

This would be the seventh time Daniel J. Redmond, now 59, has been denied parole.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February 1977 after his first-degree murder conviction was overturned a year earlier. Then 20, Mr. Redmond stabbed 28-year-old Pamela Hurlburt almost 50 times inside her family’s St. Paul Drive home during what authorities called a robbery attempt.

Mr. Redmond had a review hearing on Dec. 11 and the decision was filed in late February although just released recently. The Parole Board unanimously denied Mr. Redmond’s parole and said a review will be scheduled in five years.

Ms. Hurlburt, described as a developmentally disabled woman in the Parole Board’s decision, was found dead in her bedroom Feb. 23, 1974. The home had been burglarized.

The night before the killing Mr. Redmond was at a party in the city where he was drinking alcohol and took some phencyclidine, the hallucinogenic drug known as PCP. He left the party and saw a light on in a nearby home, the home of Ms. Hurlburt.

After breaking into a cellar window, Mr. Redmond stabbed the family dog with a paring knife, records show.

“He went upstairs and saw the victim, who startled him,” the Parole Board record states. “He proceeded to stab her multiple times, killing her.”

The wounds were to Ms. Hurlburt’s face, stomach, chest, arms and legs. He also sliced off pieces of her body and sexually assaulted her, reports state. A neighbor called police after seeing suspicious activity in the home. Mr. Redmond was arrested hours after Ms. Hurlburt was found.

Stolen items from the house were found with Mr. Redmond.

Mr. Redmond received a life sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and a concurrent 20 to 30 year sentence on burglary and armed robbery charges. He had been on parole at the time of the murder.

The Parole Board detailed Mr. Redmond’s long history of disciplinary reports since his incarceration. He had 24 disciplinary reports in between his 2007 and 2012 parole hearings. Mr. Redmond stabbed another inmate while imprisoned, set a fire, attempted to escape, brought heroin into the facility, sent sexual messages to a staff member and committed a sexual assault against a staff member, the Parole Board reports.

He has also been placed in Bridgewater State Hospital six times after he mutilated himself and had thoughts of suicide. The Parole Board called Mr. Redmond of “management problem” for the state Department of Correction.

The most recent disciplinary report against Mr. Redmond came on Sept. 4, 2011 when he left a bent razor blade on top of a light fixture in his cell. Authorities said he planned to hurt corrections officers with the razor blade as they searched his cell.

Parole Board members questioned Mr. Redmond about the brutal killing and his sexually deviant behavior.

He attributed his behavior to being on PCP, the board stated. He also told the board the disciplinary reports filed against him weren’t warranted.

The board believes Mr. Redmond took no responsibility for his disciplinary issues and offered evasive questions with little remorse for the ramifications surrounding the murder.

Mr. Redmond remains a high risk to public safety and is likely to re-offend, the board stated.